"I'm Not Really Qualified to Sing a Love Song..... Still, I Want to Sing!!"- an Interview with Haru Nemuri

The moment I finally listened to Haru Nemuri’s first major album ‘Haru to Shura’ was in September 2018, after I’d seen its album cover repeatedly appear on my Facebook newsfeed across the span of 4 months. The second I pressed play is seared into my memory as a most joyous discovery and in the 3 years and 8 months that followed, her music has only continued to grow in personal significance. The excitement for ‘Lovetheism’ in anticipation of its release was only matched by the comfort that repeated listens brought me in early 2020, and the steady trickle of singles released throughout 2021 ensured I was always finding new meaning and reassurance in her discography. Her music played a most important role during the most tumultuous years of my life, and for that I will be forever grateful. 

 

So: to look back in hindsight and see that it was ‘only’ a mere 3 years and 8 months, after the first time I heard her music, before I had the opportunity to interview her for her new album ‘Shunka Ryougen’ is nothing short of a wonder I find myself cherishing more with every passing day. 

 

All the thoughts and feelings I’d experienced in response to her art suddenly rushed forth all at once when I sat down to think of exactly what I wanted to ask her about. I’d naturally read many of her interviews across those three years, so I found myself in the unique position to ask and learn more than what I already knew. Thoughts I’d experienced in response to her music, and curiosities that piqued my interest when reading past statements she’d made, guided me as I worked to make the most of this chance to speak directly to someone whose expression had changed my life for the better. The result of this experience that enriched my past and future experiences of her music is the interview that follows: an interview I’m profoundly grateful to share. 

 

Photo by Maya Kuraki

 

 

 

An Interview with Haru Nemuri

 

1.

Mustafa: “Hello Haru! Congratulations on your new album release and recent North American tour! The first thing I was curious about is that your US was delayed by two years, so what was it like to finally go on the tour after lockdown rules had been eased?”

 

Haru: “Thank you! During those two years it was really tough that the delay was extended for so long: it was actually postponed four times altogether, and by 2021 I kind of got used to it because lockdown kept dragging on. It didn’t feel like reality when it was finally the time to go, but once I arrived at the airport I suddenly realised: “Oh, I’m really here! I’m really, actually here!”, and it finally hit me that it was happening for real. When I started performing the shows, that was when I felt it physically because of the audience actually being in front of me, and the excitement building up inside me made me really feel “oh, finally, it’s real!”! I just enjoyed it a lot from then on!”

 

Hearing Haru’s answer reminded me of the moment in her US Tour Documentary when she arrived at the airport with an expression of relief and excitement visible on her face, as well as the overwhelming energy the crowds displayed in response to finally seeing her perform after so long. “I’m happy everyone looked so excited!” she remarks, almost with a sigh of relief knowing that the two-year wait wasn’t in vain for both her and her fans. 

 

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2.

Mustafa: “You went on a European tour back in 2019, which was one year after ‘Haru to Shura’ released. I’m really curious about what that experience was like, because most musicians don’t get the chance to do big tours in other countries so early on in their careers. Your first mini-album, ‘Sayonara Youthphobia’, released in 2016, so touring Europe just three years later must have been a big step-up from the local performances you’d done in Japan. Can you recall what it was like back then, getting used to such sudden international popularity and touring other countries so soon?”

 

Haru: “At the time I’d actually never done much of a big tour in Japan. It was like, not a dream, but a kind of wonder. I thought to myself “will I really be able to do this?”. That was the only thing I was wondering, but aside from that I didn’t really have any worries. The European booking agent was working really hard organising the tour for me so I didn’t have any considerations of not doing the tour. I just knew I needed to do the shows. I thought to myself “no matter what, at least it’ll probably be more fun compared to performing in Japan.”!”

 

Mustafa: “You went on your US tour nearly 3 years after your European tour. Were there any noticeable differences in the experiences of performing the two different tours? Were they similar experiences, or did they feel distinctly different?“

 

Haru: “Everyone may have their own perspectives on this matter, but I think that people in Japan are really different to other countries! I feel like with live music, Japanese people are quite shy and don’t really show themselves. During shows they may just be standing still, like a stick! But in the US, I always had the image that people there were much louder, more excited, and more energetic! For the European tour, I felt that people were more waving to the side, feeling the song and getting into it: not dancing but kind of flowing with it. Overall, I felt that on both the American and European tours the audiences were always really honest compared to Japanese people (laughs)!”

 

Photo by Josh Romero

 

I sadly wasn’t able to attend any performances of the European tour due to having exams that same month, but I still feel a connection of sorts as I had a friend who attended and sent me a signed demo CD purchased at the venue. Hearing more about Haru’s experience with that tour brought my mind back to that summer of 2019, despite knowing that the middle of an interview is hardly the right time to be getting caught up in reminiscence of memories. 

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3.

Mustafa: “Your new Album ‘Shunka Ryougen’ has 21 tracks and is just over one hour in length. It’s a lot longer than your previous release (the mini album ‘Lovetheism’) and your first full-length album ‘Haru to Shura’. How did the creation process differ this time around compared to before? In a general sense, was there much different in the process of creating this album compared to your previous two album releases?”

 

Haru: “I don’t think there was that much of a difference with my last album release, because I consider this new album to be an extension from ‘Lovetheism’. I did want to make something a little bit more ‘pop’ with this album, but overall I feel it’s an extension. However, I do feel that I put more detail into this album compared to the previous releases.”

 

Mustafa: “I find it interesting that you consider ‘Shunka Ryougen’ an extension of ‘Lovetheism’, because I noticed ‘Haru to Shura’ is a lot more electronic, and then when ‘Lovetheism’ released I was really struck by how different the first song ‘Fanfare’ sounded compared to your previous music, particularly the use of the choir throughout the song, which highlighted to me just how different ‘Lovetheism’ sounded compared to ‘Haru to Shura’. How did the decision to go in this particular direction come about, when you began to work on ‘Lovetheism’?”

 

Haru: “For ‘Fanfare’ in particular, the choir as well as the wind instruments were used to bring out its unique sound; for ‘Haru to Shura’ there were more ‘game-ish’ sounds, so I deliberately wanted ‘Lovetheism’ to sound less ‘game-ish’ by choosing to go for a more organic sound which I think is what fundamentally resulted in ‘Lovetheism’ going in a different sonic direction to ‘Haru to Shura’.”

 

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4.

Mustafa: “I’ve always been very interested in the visual aspects of your music, both with the covers for your albums/singles and your music videos too. You mentioned in a recent YouTube live Q and A that the inspiration behind the cover for ‘Shunka Ryougen’ was a lyric from ‘Sister with Sisters’ (“Hey sister, let it burn”), so I’m curious about what the inspiration and intentions were for the covers of ‘Haru to Shura’ and ‘Lovetheism’.”

 

Haru: “For ‘Haru to Shura’, I wasn’t really thinking about what kind of visuals I wanted for the album cover. I usually don’t trust myself with visual aspects because I don’t think I’m good at them, so for ‘Haru to Shura’ I trusted my cameraman when it came to that photoshoot for the album cover, but I personally also felt that the final photo chosen for the cover was the best one. For ‘Lovetheism’, when we were filming the music video for ‘Riot’ we had discussed album cover ideas with the director, but I didn’t have a specific idea of what the photo would be. It was whilst we were in the middle of filming the video that the director suddenly had an idea for how he wanted the album cover to look and began drawing it out to show us, which we then recorded and photographed. You can actually see that visual in the ‘Riot’ music video, too! I usually rely on people that I trust when it comes to visual aspects: the visual designer for ‘Haru to Shura’ also worked on ‘Shunka Ryougen’, but this new album was the first time that I suggested what I personally wanted for the album cover.”

 

 

Minato (Haru’s manager): “We had five ideas for ‘Haru to Shura’ at first, but an important factor in choosing the final album cover was that we wanted a photo that showcased Haru’s strong presence and willpower, which was the key that led us to deciding on the finalised album cover.”

 

Mustafa: “For the ‘Shunka Ryougen’ cover with the sunset/sunrise in the background and Haru wearing her red dress in the centre, was there an intentional use of the motif of setting ablaze, with Haru herself appearing to literally be setting the sky on fire?”

 

Haru: “It was actually the sunset that we shot for the photo: I told my team that I wanted the horizon to literally look like it was on fire but they said it would be impossible to make that happen, so the director and creative team suggested we use the sunset because it appears much more red than the sunrise. That’s the reason why we chose to take the photo at that time. Well….. also because we didn’t want to wake up so early for the photoshoot (laughs)!”

 

The audial experience of music had always brought my attention to the visual elements that it’d be complemented by. Album covers seemed integral as a result, so learning about the creation process of these photos (which symbolize profoundly great personal significance to me), from both Haru and her manager Minato, renewed my appreciation of them to new and greater magnitudes. 

…..

I guess ‘reignited’ would be more fitting, in this context. 

 

 

Mustafa: “On the topic of visual elements of your music: oftentimes when I listen to your music, certain sounds conjure up images in my mind, one example being the guitar from the song ‘Haru to Shura’ which makes me think of loud, heavy rain and a stormy sky. I’m curious: are there ever times when you want to intentionally use certain sounds that evoke, or are reminiscent of, a particular image/visual?”

 

Haru: “That’s actually….. not something I’ve thought about before (laughs)! I’m really bad at visualising things, so visualising though sound is something I hadn’t really thought of before. But I think it’s cool to think that someone listening to the song could visualise something like that! I’m really curious and interested, as I didn’t know listeners could feel that way!”

 

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5.

Mustafa: “In your music, especially in ‘Shunka Ryougen’, there are lots of very powerful and deliberate uses of the balance of quiet and loud. One example being in ‘Inori Dake Ga Aru’ where the first half is very quiet, sounding almost sorrowful and reflective, but the second half conveys lots of anguish through your loud screaming. Both parts evoke different, yet equally strong, emotions and feelings within me. You mentioned you don’t think much of visuals, but are there any other underlying factors that affect your choices when it comes to which sounds you use, whether it’s emotions, feelings, or particular messages you want to convey?”

 

Haru: “For ‘Inori Dake Ga Aru’ specifically I started the song off slowly, but as a result I felt that I needed to ‘explode it out’ at the end. That was the thinking behind why I chose that structure for that song. But throughout the album, because there is an importance of movement and feelings, I chose to keep the songs in a certain flow, because there is importance in build-ups and pauses structuring the movement of the songs. I naturally felt those were needed, and I was naturally making it so that the transmission of the sounds originated directly from my emotions throughout the entire album.”

 

 

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6.

Mustafa: “In a previous interview you stated that you think your music would be "irrelevant in a peaceful world". I found that really interesting, because there have been many times in the past when I’ve listened to your music and been struck by how serene and peaceful it can sound. ‘Fanfare’ and ‘Ikiru’ both being examples of this, because these songs resonate a lot with me because of how much peace they bring me. Do you anticipate that feelings of beauty and wonder could have greater presence in your art in the future, or do you think that your music will always primarily have that aspect of anger and frustration with the world?”

 

Haru: “Ummm…. I don’t…. know! (Laughs). I’m not really sure which way I’ll be moving forward from here, since I just made the new album, and I can’t really tell what’s coming up in my future. However: I think that you can’t really go with one or the other, because by letting go of one you can’t really talk about life in its entirety. For example: because you feel and understand what ‘anger’ and ‘sorrow’ are, you can really appreciate what ‘beautiful’ is. I believe you can’t let go of one to feel just the other, so I think this will continue to be represented in my music.”

 

Mustafa: “That reminds me of another quote you said in the past: “I don’t like music that has no context, so I want to make new stuff that reflects the roots that exist there”. There are many artists who may sometimes focus more on making music that is entirely happy, or other that make music which is just angry and sorrowful. You mentioned there is a balance that you wanted reflected because that’s how you see life, so would you say the roots of your art is life itself?”

 

Haru: “Yes, I do think that the root of my music is life itself, and it kind of connects to my strong belief in the power of music and art. I’m always writing music for myself to be able to continue living and not die. I think my belief in music and art, and the roots of my music, are really connected to life.”

 

Mustafa: “Are there any musicians you look up to, or enjoy listening to, who you feel also have that balance in their music and express things in their art that really resound with you?”

 

Haru: “Hmmmm, that’s a hard question…… who is it?! (Laughs). I’m trying to think who, but I can’t really come up with one person right now…… or maybe there aren’t many people who actually try to mix those and balance them.”

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7.

Mustafa: “You’ve mentioned before that you are a big fan of Seiko Oomori. I’m really fond of her music too, so I was curious about the lyric “touch my yes” in ‘Sozou Soru’ and the inspiration behind wanting to use this lyric which Seiko Oomori originally sung on her song ‘Dogma Magma’?”

 

Haru: “In Seiko Oomori’s song, the lyric is connected to the idea of the cloth Jesus wore, and that whoever touches his cloth would be cured of their sickness. I use the lyric in ‘Sozou Soru’ as a reference to the context of Seiko Oomori’s use of the lyric.”

 

On my first listen of the album, this particular lyric stood out to me as something I desperately wanted to ask about the most, as the connection between the two songs just stood out so much to me. On the topic of Seiko Oomori, I mentioned that I personally would really love to see Haru collaborate with Seiko Oomori someday, to which she responded with an optimistic and upbeat “Hopefully, maybe! Let’s see how it goes!” 

 

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8.

Mustafa: “Have you ever considered conducting an exhibition of sorts with your music? Perhaps a collaboration that’d combine the artistry of your music with a scientific or engineering endeavour?”

 

Haru: “Such an endeavour would be a little too big and really ‘out there’ for me, but I did think one time: I’d heard about the idea of someone sending a capsule out into space to reach another distant civilisation. From that, I thought that if I could put my music on there and fly it off into space, it might go to another planet and communicate with the civilisation there. I know that putting items into a rocket means they could end up burning, so I figured that I’d need to put it in a hard diamond casing to protect it. It could arrive in the hands of another living being out there, someone I never could have known, and they could transcribe it and interact with my music.”

 

Upon asking if that was something she could see herself doing in the future, she responded saying: “I don’t know about myself, since I’d need so much money, but Elon Musk could probably do it!”. I jokingly suggested sending Haru’s music to him in hopes that he’d become a fan and be willing to send it into space, which she considered for a moment before laughing as she confessed “he kinda scares me a little bit, though!”. 

 

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9.

Mustafa: “Shortly after the release of ‘Haru to Shura’ and your explosion of international popularity, you did a collaboration with the French vinyl label Specific Recordings to distribute both ‘Haru to Shura’ and ‘Lovetheism’ on vinyl. Your social media posts are also very inclusive of English-speaking fans. Something I noticed from other Japanese artists on their social media, maybe because they don’t think they’ll have many English listeners, is that all their social media posts/fanbase interactions are only in Japanese. You’ve endeavoured to be really inclusive of international audiences, with the European releases of your vinyl, international tours, social media posts, and YouTube Q and A’s done in English. I’m curious how you feel about other Japanese artists concerning this matter: do you think in future more Japanese artists will be more aware of international fans, or do you think they’re not really aware that people around the world listen to their music?”

 

Haru: “I’m not really too sure on the perspectives of other Japanese artists. Japanese culture is very unique compared to other countries: artists that fit in and feel stable in Japan may just stick to staying in here and not reach out. But for other artists that may feel a little more outcasted or don’t fit into that culture in Japan, similar to my situation in a way, they may start to reach out more internationally.”

 

Mustafa: “Following on from that point: I first started to listen to Japanese music in mid-2017 and around that time, even now, there was an explosion in popularity online of Japanese music from the 80’s which most people call ‘City Pop’: artists like Mariya Takeuchi, Taeko Ohnuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita. Lots of people around the world are really passionate about Japanese music from that era, with many newly printed and second-hand vinyl copies of ‘City Pop’ albums being distributed around the world: my first vinyl record was a second-hand copy of ‘Miss M’ by Mariya Takeuchi which I purchased from eBay. What you think about this specific phenomenon?”

 

Haru: “In regards to the ‘City Pop’ movement in 2017 as you mentioned, we’re all aware of it and in a way we’re surprised, but at the same time the entire phenomenon was kind of obvious too. 

 

Japan is full of politics, especially in the entertainment business. If you know the culture then one thing you can feel is that Japanese people, especially the older generations in the top positions right now, don’t have that much ‘adaptability’: they can’t really flow with new things. They can’t resonate or blend in with something new, or some kind of change. They always stick with whatever they consider ‘is standard/normal’, but something they would refer to as ‘is’ exists in the past: they love to stick with the path that they’ve already used because they cannot adapt to new stuff. So of course, they would print new vinyl for old records and blast it all out into different continents because they think “oh, we still need to sell vinyl records of these particular albums!”, and that’s very different to the modern movement: lots of things are becoming digital, new music is trying to adapt to this new reality, but in Japan it’s kind of tough unless these people change or move out of their old mindsets. Following on from your previous question: as a result I think that it makes things very tough for newer major artists signed to major labels, and I think they’re being suffocated by not being able to be recognised outside of Japan. 

 

But in a way: independent artists may have lighter footwork in the same situation. There are a lot more indie musicians trying to reach out and expose themselves outside Japan, so the new young generation may have more chances to step outside, but unfortunately the Japanese politicians in the top positions are not really aware of themselves, and they’re scared of making a change. So unless that changes, it may be hard for a majority of the artists. In my career I’ve been able to work from A to B, but other artists stuck in this culture are stuck on A, and can’t move on to B. It may take some time, but eventually the younger generations might start changing the movement and expand Japanese music outside a little more.”

 

This new, alternate perspective on the 'City Pop' phenomenon was eye-opening in the way it highlighted the more commercially driven motivations behind the genre’s popularity. The insight Haru granted into the way she perceived the workings of the music industry in Japan made me appreciate just how much of a shame it was for decisions in creative matters to be hindered in such a way, too. Her answer was reminiscent of her song ‘Old-Fashioned’, hence I jokingly mentioned how it’s “all the fault of those Old Fashioned Donuts” which was met with laughter and nods of approval. 

 

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10.

Mustafa: “I want to ask about two of my favourite songs from the album: ‘Shunrai’ and ‘Heart of Gold’.

 

‘Shunrai’ is really happy and upbeat, and I really appreciate the meaning of it (it was used as the BGM for the North American tour documentary). “Shunrai, roaring love, awakening the mind, the world overflows, I definitely want to sing a love song like that!” is a lyric that I especially really like because of how hopeful and happy it is. A lyric included towards the end is “I’m not really qualified to sing a love song, still I want to sing”, which I’m really curious about: why do you feel you’re not qualified to sing a love song?”

 

Haru: “My definition of ‘love’ is that you need to acknowledge that it exists, and you need to be able to notice it, but I think that’s really hard to do because it’s something you can’t really see, so it’s something you need to feel. I find it really hard to pinpoint where it is, and because I can’t do that I feel that I’m not really qualified to sing love songs, because I’m unsure. But I made this song, and I wanted to sing it, because I needed to have a reference point within me of what love is.”

 

Photo by Daniel Cavasos

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11.

Mustafa: “You released a demo of ‘Heart of Gold’ in 2020 on Bandcamp as a timed exclusive to help raise money for Black Lives Matter. I listened to it a lot back then, and I was very excited to hear a demo version of a song before it was finalised. Two years went by since then before the final version was released on ‘Shunka Ryougen’, so I was really curious about the changes that song went through. Across those two years after the demo was recorded, did you change your mind a lot about how you wanted the final version to sound, or had everything been fully planned when the demo version was recorded? 

 

Haru: During those two years, Covid itself didn’t really make much of a difference for this song. I arranged this song completely by myself, and within those two years I was able to polish my skills, so I was able to make the final version ‘closer’ to my idealised sound. 

 

Mustafa: I’m really glad that it was able to become closer to your vision for the song! 

A lyric in the song that really stands out to me is when you sing “there’s more error than the Tower of Babel”, because of how it’s a Biblical reference. I was wondering how and when you came across these religious concepts, and was there a particular reason why you wanted to use it in this song? 

 

Haru: I went to a private Christian school during junior high and high school, so I learned lots about religious concepts and ideas there, which is what influences me to choose religious topics, themes, and words. 

 

The interview was rounded off with a short discussion about demo versions of her songs, with Haru taking particular note of my appreciation for the demo versions of Riot, Lovetheism, and Heart of Gold. At the suggestion of her signing the Demo CD another time when she next tours the UK, she responded with a sly “Maybe next year?”, finishing the interview on a note which left me with excited anticipation both for the future tours and music projects to come. 

 

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There were a hundred more questions I wanted to ask, including particular lyrics from every song from ‘Shunka Ryougen’ I would have loved to discuss, but time constraints meant the interview concluded shortly after our discussion about those two particularly special songs and the demo songs she’d released. 

 

‘Shunka Ryougen’ in its entirety, alongside Haru’s earlier works, has sounded different ever since I was able to speak and learn so much about her creative experiences, beliefs, and perspectives. The pauses, explosions, silences, and roars all stand out as working in a tandem I appreciate more with every listen and speak to me with greater poetry as I’m reminded of Haru’s words with every second of sound. 

-Mustafa

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‘Shunka Ryougen’ is available to stream and purchase digitally. A vinyl printing of the album is set to be released by the label Specific Recordings sometime in the future. 

 

Sincere thanks to Haru Nemuri, Minato Murakami, and Justin Takada for helping make this dream a reality. 

 

This interview is dedicated to Rabi, Stanley, and all the friends I’ve had the joy of sharing such special experiences and memories with.